Energy recovery facilities

In NSW, government policy encourages the recovery of energy from waste if this can deliver positive outcomes for people and the environment. Operators who seek to recover energy by thermally treating waste must comply with the policy, to protect the community and ensure best use is made of waste materials.

Why recover energy from waste?

Thermally treating waste is an opportunity to recover the energy stored
within these materials. Using waste to produce energy can offset the
community's use of other, non-renewable energy sources. Using waste as fuel is
also a way to avoid the methane emissions that can result when waste is
disposed of to landfill.

NSW energy from waste policy

In NSW, energy recovery from waste must represent the most
efficient use of the resource, and be achieved with no increase in the risk of
harm to human health or the environment.

Facilities seeking to recover energy by thermally treating
waste, or materials derived from waste, must
comply with the 'NSW energy from waste
policy statement'.

facility emissions are below levels that may
pose a risk of harm to the community

facilities proposing to recover energy from
waste meet current international best practice techniques, particularly with
respect to process
design and control, emission control equipment design and control, and emission
monitoring, with real-time feedback to the controls of the process

Eligible waste fuels

Under NSW's energy from waste policy, certain low-risk
wastes are termed ‘eligible waste fuels’. These wastes can be used for fuel due
to their origin, low levels of contaminants, and consistency over time.

Eligible waste fuels guidelines

Other wastes

Facilities recovering energy from all other wastes (that is,
wastes that are not considered to be an eligible waste fuel by the EPA) must
meet the technical, thermal and resource recovery criteria for ‘energy recovery
facilities’ in Part 4 of the 'NSW energy from waste policy'.

These requirements equate to operating purpose-built
facilities that use the best available technologies to recover energy from
residual wastes. The residual wastes used must be materials that are not
recyclable, that would otherwise be disposed of to landfill.

Energy Recovery Facility Guidelines

The EPA is producing 'Energy recovery facility guidelines'.

Facilities outside the policy's scope

Some thermal treatment applications not deemed to undertake
genuine energy recovery fall outside the scope of the NSW energy from waste policy
statement.

Still other thermal treatment applications fall outside the policy
statement's scope because the technical or resource recovery criteria contained
within the statement are not relevant to them, or because other regulatory frameworks
already apply to them.